A typical decoder buffers data streams during variable and fixed delay. In particular, the depth of a buffer for variable delay is generally related to the delay in the decoder at a particular point in time. Also, in a typical decoder such as for an MPEG/MPEG2 (MPEG1 or MPEG2) decoder, variable and fixed delays can require significant buffering (e.g., system memory).
Thus, there remains a need for an efficient approach for buffering variable and fixed delays in a decoder. In particular, it would be desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus that efficiently utilizes memory in a decoder.